What Happened at Development Day ‘26
Development Day 26 was the inaugural gathering of leaders from MDC grant-receiving churches and all those engaged in leading revitalisation from sessions and presbyteries.
This one-day conference was intentionally held on Monday 4th May, the day before the PCV Commission of Assembly, and was tailored for leadership and ministry development for the work of revitalisation in congregations and presbyteries.
All delegates had the opportunity to engage with experienced ministry practitioners, keynote speakers Darren Middleton (North Geelong Presbyterian Church, Presbytery of Geelong) and Gary Stephens (Bairnsdale Presbyterian Church, Presbytery of Gippsland) in congregational and presbytery revitalisation.
Matt Oates (Ministry & Mission Committee PCNSW) provided his unique first-hand perspective, sharing ‘8 Lessons and 2 Reflections from NSW’, which added a valuable dimension to the conference.
Development Day 26 was enjoyed by 43 delegates —29 of whom are ministers and home missionaries—from across all PCV presbyteries. Most presbyteries had 2–4 delegates attend, with as many as 8 delegates attending from one Melbourne presbytery and 7 delegates from one regional presbytery. In total, 56% of delegates came into the CBD from regional locations and 42% attended from around Melbourne.
When examining delegate numbers relative to the number of active sessions in each presbytery, five of the six highest-ranking presbyteries represented regional Victoria. However, there was no evident correlation between the number of delegates attending from each presbytery and the number of active sessions within that presbytery.
Matt Oates from NSW has been counted as one of the 43 delegates—as have Darren Middleton and Gary Stephens—but his inclusion as an interstate delegate makes him an outlier in these statistics. As he is not associated with a Victorian presbytery, he was not included in the presbytery-based analysis of delegate numbers relative to active sessions.
The MDC consciously structured Development Day 26 to align with our Approach to Development, with four key elements guiding the planning process:
· Christ Centred
· Collaborative
· Tailored Training
· Applicable for All
The talks presented by our experienced ministry practitioners was the main aspect of the day that delivered the first three of these key elements to delegates. The fourth key element was particularly applied in the following ways:
· There was no cost for delegates to attend the six-hour conference
· Luch and afternoon tea were included
· Leaders attending from regional MDC grant-receiving charges were offered complimentary accommodation at The Victoria Hotel on the night of Monday 4th May ahead of Tuesday’s Commission of Assembly
Given it is highly unlikely a secular conference would ever include any of the three benefits above—let alone all of them—the MDC’s Christ Centred approach filters through to these aspects of the conference, too: Learn, love and lead like Christ is our targeted outcome. The word of God is our focus rather than the way of the world.
Nine delegates from regional MDC grant-receiving charges accepted the MDC’s offer of complimentary accommodation on the Monday night. The MDC was able to provide accommodation for our regionally based speakers and the MDC Convener, also.
An optional end to the day was ‘Dinner & Discussion’, at the delegates’ own expense. Approximately 23 delegates enjoyed fellowship together into the evening, sharing their thoughts, ideas, questions and learnings from a valuable day together.
Feedback received
Twenty delegates submitted online feedback (Google Form, with a QR code supplied) for Development Day 26. Some of the more conclusive responses to multiple choice questions included the following:
50% – it exceeded my expectations
35% – it met my expectations
15% – I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived
35% – I felt the timing of the talks was just right for the content being delivered
60% – I was happy with the length of both breaks
25% – I would've liked a longer lunch for more discussion/fellowship
45% – the communications got my attention and I registered
15% – I would’ve preferred knowing what the speakers were going to talk about
15% – there wasn’t a lot of time to register
30% – others in my Session or Presbytery cited work or family commitments for not attending today
50% – ‘Yes, definitely’ (plan to attend Dev. Day 27)
30% – ‘Yes, and I’ll encourage more of our Session members to come, too!’ (plan to attend Dev. Day 27)
